Sugar Order No. 3 stays even with new SRA administrator

Regulating HFCS imports

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol assured that Sugar Order No. 3 (SO3), which regulates the entry of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the country, will stay even if former Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Anna Rosario Paner is no longer in the office.

It was just last week when President Rodrigo Duterte formally appointed Hermenegildo Serafica — upon the recommendation of Piñol — as the new SRA administrator despite his alleged involvement in the agency's hiring of overpaid consultant.

Now, the local sugar industry stakeholders fears that Serafica's appointment could lead to the revocation of an SRA order.

This was after Piñol locked horns with sugar barons of Negros Occidental after the former allegedly lobbied in favor of Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines and Pepsi Cola to allow the entry of HFCS in the country.

Piñol even proposed to retract SO3 because big businesses were not included in the consultation process.

Just lately, Paner also admitted that there is massive pressure from other high-ranking officials of the government to allow the multinational companies to import the HFCS from China.

“The challenges during my administration became apparent during the height of the HFCS issue. I was determined to do something over the rampant importation of HFCS. I fought HFCS importation with everything I’ve got to the point of displeasing the Department of Agriculture (DA), our mother agency, the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and the DOF (Department of Finance),” Paner said.

“I cannot describe to you the kind of pressure hurled at me to allow the importation of HFCS. But I took a hard position against HFCS, which I am obviously paying for now. But I do not regret what I did. Because have the unhampered importation of HFCS been allowed the effects of last year’s importation would have been irreversible," she added.

Amid all this, Piñol said that SO3 will stay. He said this during his meeting with the stakeholders of the sugar sector of Negros Occidental as part of his two-day Biyaheng Bukid engagement in the province.

The purpose of the meeting was to thresh out issues hounding the industry that forms part of the big chunk of the agriculture economy in Western Negros.

SO3, signed in February of this year, sets the guidelines for the issuance of clearance for the release of imported HFCS and chemically pure fructose, which is being used by softdrinks manufacturers as alternative to sugar.

The order was directed by Paner after several complaints from farmers, millers and workers reached SRA regarding the unregulated importation of HFCS.

The uncontrolled trading affected the production of the local sugar, according to the reports.

Before meeting with the stakeholders, Piñol also had a dialogue with the Negros Occidental Chapter of the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers who presented a consolidated position paper requesting for stricter restrictions on the importation of sugar.

“Other than the HFCS, which passes through very stringent measures, there has been no importation of sugar since President Duterte stepped into office,” Piñol said.

He stressed that the strict requirements will be maintained to protect the welfare of all parties concerned.